Blood Domination BL Game Review – The Will Of Blood Is Absolute

Blood Domination is a BL visual novel that allows players to follow five different couples, uncovering the secrets of their pasts and controlling their fates. Welcome to Éclair Gymnasium Academy, where vampires learn how to navigate the Dom/sub relationships that will define the rest of their lives.

Game Details

• Genre: Boys Love | Fantasy | Romance
• Developer & Publisher: Abracadabra Studios
• Where to Get the Game: Steam
• Similar Games: Mannequin Academy | Reversing Caste

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Story

The Will Of Blood Is Absolute.

In Blood Domination, the world of vampires is divided into two types: Doms who control, and subs who are controlled. Many have passed through the prestigious Éclair Gymnasium Academy, learning to tap into their full potential as Doms or subs in order to preserve the noble vampire bloodlines. This is a story of hunger and longing; quenched only by D/s acts in which subs offer themselves to the mercy of their Dom’s pleasure, for which the sub receives a reward in return.

Now, five different couples have arrived to pen the newest pages of the Academy’s chronicled history. Their objective is simple: to get through a temporary contract with their respective partner. Will they discover love and happiness, or will their D/s relationships break down under the weight of their own ambitions and tragedies? Your choices will decide their destiny.

Official Synopsis

Blood Domination Review

While I consider myself to be a seasoned fujoshi, the world of Dom/sub dynamics is a new one for me. So, when Abracadabra announced they’d be porting their D/s fantasy boys love mobile game, Blood Domination to Steam, lets just say my interest was piqued.

If you’re like me and are new to D/s, in Blood Domination vampires are born with secondary genders: Doms, subs, and Switches. It’s similar to A/B/O dynamics in omegaverse, minus the mpreg (I think…the jury’s still out on that right now). Vampires fall into the role of Doms, those who control, and subs, those who are controlled. There are also rare cases of individuals being Switches, who have characteristics of both and can be considered “super” Doms, since they can control everyone.

Both Doms and subs use a safeword during D/s play. Doms use their safeword to give orders to their sub, while subs can use their safeword to reject a command from their Dom. This gives both sides autonomy in their relationship and creates more equality between Doms and subs. Vampires are required to pair off and form contracts with their destined partner to satisfy their natures through the performance of D/s acts. While D/s more often than not can become sexual, its not exclusively so. Platonic pairs do exist in this world.

Going in, I was a bit concerned that this would read like a fetishization of the Dom/sub relationships. But, surprisingly Blood Domination presents D/s as a healthy consensual relationship. The bond between a Dom and a sub is made stronger through D/s play, which in turn heightens the intimacy and pleasure of both parties. It’s still a fictionalized depiction of D/s, so it’s not perfect. Some aspects of the relationships are pushed to the extreme for the sake of drama. But, honestly, Blood Domination does more than I expected.

Set at Éclair Gymnasium Academy, a school that specializes in teaching its vampire students the art of Dom/sub relationships. Blood Domination delves into the world of Doms and subs, exploring the nuance of the dynamics and how it effects the relationships between the characters. The game follows five different pairs on various sides of the D/s spectrum as they navigate their partnerships with one another. Izayoi and Uzuki offer a more traditional D/s dynamic, while Takamine and Chihaya provide a look at the highs and lows of a non-traditional pairing.

Most games focus on one perspective throughout the story. But, in Blood Domination the perspective switches between both members of each pair. So you get insight into how both characters feel about their partner and their role in their D/s dynamic.

Of course, Blood Domination also explores more commonplace relationship dynamics through the lens of its D/s setting. Gingetsu and Kasumi’s story depicts a teacher x student relationship; Narumi and Mizuho’s route follows childhood friends to lovers; and Kazuha and Yuugiri is more of an opposites attracts storyline. The D/s premise is always at the forefront of each route’s story, but the inclusion of these more well known character dynamics adds depth to the relationships. It also adds context to the D/s specific conflicts in a way that is more accessible to folks who may not be as well versed in this particular genre.

On another note, the vampire stuff kind of feels underdeveloped in comparison. Aside from sensual blood swapping, it really doesn’t factor into the story all that much. There is a mention or two of blood ties and true mates, but that feels more like a product of the D/s stuff and less a vampiric thing. So, if you’re going in expecting a lot of vampire-y things, you might be disappointed.

Blood Domination is a port of mobile game, and it has been optimized for PC. Many of the freemium mobile features, like microtransactions, checkpoints, and events have been removed from this version of the game (thank goodness). But, because it is a mobile port there is no voice acting, it’s not a deal breaker for me, but it does put Blood Domination at a slight disadvantage when compared to other boys love PC titles in this price range. The UI is pretty easy to use and clean, though I did notice that the save screen is really tiny (probably a carry over from the mobile version).

The translation of Blood Domination is interesting. It’s fine really. Better than I expected from a mobile port, for sure. But, there were some attempts to modernize the dialogue that had me on the floor. Stuff that ranged from unintended comedy to just kind of cringy to read. But, I didn’t hate it, just it gives some scenes a more comedic tone than intended.

Okay, the part you all really care about; the smut. Blood Domination is billed as an 18+ boys love game. However, it is on Steam and we all know that Valve is a hater when it comes to boys love media. So, I expected some level of censorship to comply with Steam’s selective smut bias. And yet, I was not prepared for the Ken doll anatomy. *cackles manically* They don’t have dicks. No hint of a dick. Nary a whisper of a cock. NOTHING. Just smooth as butter down there. Yo, this takes me back to the days of early 90’s boys love like Level C.

I have been spoiled with all the peens in my modern BL. Because this choice took me out! Y’all couldn’t just pixelate the dicks? They had to be erased? Dick erasure aside, the writing of the smut is top tier. You get all the nitty gritty details during the sex scenes and some very tastefully cropped CGs that are sensual without being explicit. At least in that regard Blood Domination does earn it’s mature rating. Which leads into the content warnings.

Given the focus on Dom/sub dynamics there are some instances of dubious consent, violence, and assault that may be a bit much for some folks. The story does its best to provide context for these situations, but it can be rough. So be mindful of that going in.

Is Blood Domination worth playing?

Overall, I really like Blood Domination. The Dom/sub premise is a new one for me and it was kinda cool to learn more about it through my playthrough (shoutout to my friend Kamyia for sending me D/s manga and fics for context). This isn’t a premise that is often explicitly explored in boys love games, so I would definitely be interested in seeing more stories like this in the future. The routes offer a unique look into the D/s world that covers a wide spectrum of dynamics. Each route and pairing provides something new to explore, so you never feel like you’re getting the same content in each route. However, the Ken doll anatomy is a bit jarring and detracts from the otherwise really gorgeous art and well written smut scenes.

So, yes, I recommend Blood Domination, it’s a solid port with an interesting premise and characters that is more or less worth the price of admission.

Thanks to Abracadabra for providing a copy of Blood Domination for this review.

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